DNA test after IVF treatment

[K2012]

Hi ladies

I know it might sound a bit weird, but sometimes I get a bit paranoid that what if the IVF clinic mixed up my egg or husband’s sperm with someone else’s and I’m considering having a DNA test done after baby is born.

Has anyone had the same thoughts/had dna test done on baby?

Agreed though does the OP say where the clinic was located?

@CurbsideProphet

Please could everyone stop feeding into the idea that an IVF clinic could mix up eggs and sperm. This cannot happen in the UK due to very strict protocols. IVF pregnancy is an exceptionally stressful time. It is better to talk through the anxiety with a professional than to read posts pontificating on various outcomes for something that cannot happen.

Erm 🤔 but it has happened in the UK at least once. I was contacted by the clinic at the centre of the mix up as we were being treated there. But I would never do a DNA in any event.

@K2012 I'm in the very early stages of pregnancy after I VF and I get where you're coming from. Only mothers who've been through IVF will have had their egg/embryo outside of their body before the birth and I don't think anyone who hasn't been through it can appreciate how strange it is those few days where your embryos are in the lab and the uncertainty that can creep in. I've read a number of similar posts from people on other infertility forums I follow expressing the same concerns.
There have been a very small number of cases in the many decades that ivf treatment has been taking place where there has been a mixup of some some and the DNA of the baby is not the DNA of one or both parents, but these are incredibly rare and every time they do occur protocols and processes get reviewed so the likelihood of it happening again gets even smaller. Taking all of that into account, I would say if it's something that is still causing you anxiety when the baby arrives, get the test done - you probably have a higher than 99.9% chance that is will reassure you. And then, reading what's been written by parents whose children are already hear, it sounds like maybe when yours arrives your doubts will disappear and/or you won't care anyway

I think that is a key point, once you have been pregnant and given birth you are likely going to feel less concerned.

@AlternativePerspective

You might want to be clear about your reasons why and what actions you'll take after the various scenarios before deciding to do this as it might not make you happy. Sometime a little uncertainty is better than certainty for some people. not only that, but you would need to consider the fact that the baby could be taken from you and given to the biological parents if they chose to pursue you.

Presumably if the clinic had made a mix-up they would be obliged to tell the other parents about it as well, so even if after finding out you weren’t the biological parents that was still your baby, the biological parents could very well demand their baby back, especially if, as in my above scenario, they had miscarried their pregnancy thus meaning that you wouldn’t have a child at all.

Under UK law they can’t do that. This is why you need to think before doing ivf - because under UK law it’s the woman who gave birth who is the birth mother and will always be the birth mother - if she chooses to keep the baby and the court rules her a fit parent the genetic mother has no rights.

At best the biological father may get visitation / have to pay maintenance.

I don't think it's really possible, those fears make sense since we have to put up a lot of faith into others, but I dont believe it would happen. Also, you're carrying the child, you're growing it in your womb, you're going through so much, would it really matter that much if you dont share the same dna?